Sheridan de Raismes Gibney (June 11, 1903 – April 12, 1988) was a writer and producer in theater and film. He attended
Amherst College and received an honorary M.A. from it. He later served as an instructor at
Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He began in film in 1931, but tended to see himself more as a playwright. He received 2
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for
Best Screenplay and
Best Story for
The Story of Louis Pasteur
''The Story of Louis Pasteur'' is a 1936 American black-and-white biographical film from Warner Bros., produced by Henry Blanke, directed by William Dieterle, that stars Josephine Hutchinson, Anita Louise and Donald Woods, and Paul Muni as t ...
, sharing the award with
Pierre Collings
Lysander Pierre Collings (September 22, 1900 - December 21, 1937), known professionally as Pierre Collings, was a writer and filmmaker who, along with Sheridan Gibney, won two Academy Awards in 1936 for ''The Story of Louis Pasteur''. Their scree ...
.
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections, Gibney Papers
/ref> He particularly had a fondness for Restoration comedy. He would later become President of the Screen Writers Guild twice. As a member of the League of American Writers
The League of American Writers was an association of American novelists, playwrights, poets, journalists, and literary critics launched by the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in 1935. The group included Communist Party members, and so-called " fell ...
, he suffered from the Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying empl ...
. Jack Warner later retracted the claim Gibney was a Communist and Gibney had proposed the group criticize Soviet actions against Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
although that ultimately was unanimously voted down. In his later life Gibney did work in television.
References
Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners
Best Story Academy Award winners
Amherst College alumni
1903 births
1988 deaths
20th-century American screenwriters
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